eMalahleni has a history with water meter issues and incorrect or inflated municipal accounts. A local resident has brought a new meaning to the term when he filmed the moment water was restored in his area after several hours. The video shows the air in the pipes passing through the meter as if hundreds of litres of water were being used within seconds.
Watching this video it immediately raises a few concerns. The question on our lips is that if an inspector reads the meter at the end of the month without taking this into account does that mean those residents can expect municipal accounts that are overcharging?
Lebo Mofokeng from the municipality said, “If the resident suspect that air is the cause of abnormally high water consumption it can be reported to the council, and will be investigated and dealt with.”
Technical specifications about how some specific water meters work acknowledge that this is actually a common issue that engineers should be aware of. According to Wikipedia which states,
“Many types of meters also register air flows, which can lead to over-registration of consumption, especially in systems with intermittent supply, when water supply is re-established and the incoming water pushes air through the meters.”
The issue has also been discussed on websites like stack exchange, and American website utilitybillguru.com. Even a quick search on the internet will show many videos of water meter readings skyrocketing as empty pipes push air through the meter. Mofokeng added,
“it is possible that air passing through can be measured as water, this is only possible if there is an outlet, for example an open tap in the house which will act as an air release valve. Best practise would be if there is a water outage not to leave your taps open, but rather check frequently by open a tap for a short period. The air in the reticulation after a pipe break is unavoidable, the teams however do try to minimise the possibility of air in the system by opening fire hydrants and also to scour the system.”
The municipality is likely still getting reports of incorrect accounts that could be caused for any number of reasons such as a couple living in a flat in extension 8 that has reported an increase in their municipal account from R800 to R3500 recently with no change in their daily use or lifestyle. They have apparently reported it to the municipality. Watch the videos of the water meters on the Witbank News website.
The following videos show how fast the ticker on a water meter goes up as air from empty water pipes gets pushed through the meter.
Specific models of meters unintentionally register air that is pushed through the pipes as the water gets turned back on in an area after being off for several hours.
Are you aware of this issue or if your model of water meter has this design flaw?
